Black Swan (2010)

So I finally saw this movie and can officially conclude my 2010 year of movie watching. Before Black Swan came out, I had really really wanted to watch it, not the least because it was a dance movie featuring Natalie Portman. But as I kept missing it, the reviews from friends started rolling in. Equal parts love and hate, Black Swan was the polarizing film experience of the year.I finally ended up watching it the other night, with eight of us...

'Tis the Season

Currently pushing: Rex Sorgatz of Fimoculous.com always does a year end List of Lists. 2010's version is huger than ever. It's hard to scan through any list of lists for longer than five minutes but this one caught my eye: Cryptomundo's Top 10 Cryptozoology Stories. Rex also does a 30 Best Blogs of each year, and here's last year's list. It's Oscar time! Well actually it's not but close enough. Over the winter break I've been trying to watch...

In the night I hear'em talk, the coldest story ever told

Listening to: Ben Taylor, "Nothing Compares to You." I guess I'm in a covers mood. I just found out this weekend that this was originally a Prince song. Whoops. And apparently Ben Taylor is the son of James Taylor and Carly Simon. Of course he is.Currently pushing: Dropbox. Shared folders have totally been done, but not quite with this much ease. You sign up for the Dbox service, you install a little mini-program, and you get two gigs of space to...

The Zinester’s Guide to New York City

Ayun Halliday is the author of a number of books, from The Big Rumpus, which chronicles the real life adventures of her family, to Always Lots of Heinies at the Zoo, a children's book featuring the art work of a personal favorite of mine, Dan Santat. One of her many books, Job Hopper, is about her "diligent avoidance of hard work, regular paychecks, and anything remotely resembling a dress code." That is clearly something that speaks to me and...

Some day, when I'm awfully low

Listening to: Colbie Caillat, "I Want You Back." Jackson 5 covers are overdone and any highly ranked amateur can crank out a decent version. But this is one by Colbie Caillat caught my attention and it stuck with me so I had to rip it since I couldn't find the correct mp3 anywhere. It sounds like Christmas to me for some reason, how about you?Is Facebook cool again? I feel like The Social Network gave it some cool points. I mean, if Zuckerberg...

You Got Served (2004)

I'm back with number five in my dance movie series. This time around it's a movie that's close and dear to my heart. I don't even have to add a little section about where and how and why I watched this movie as I have the thing on DVD and like to throw it on as background noise every once in awhile. It's not a guilty pleasure, it's the truth.Tagline: "If You Want Respect, You've Got to Take It."Plot (6)Nothing could be more ho-hum. Two friends...

Turn the drums up, turn my vocals up too

Listening to: Biggies Smalls freestyling at age seventeen. I'll explain below. The clip is from a 2000 film, "Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme."I'd been anticipating going to the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival for awhile and even though I rolled out of bed super late, I got there mostly on time because it was literally a block down from my apartment. So far one of the very best things about living in Williamsburg is how close I am to the L train...

Love and Other Drugs (2010)

Does this movie have the greatest title or what? Love is a drug! Ah! Based on title alone I needed to watch this movie. Having just come from an hour long discussion with my friend about the romantic comedy genre, I needed this movie to be great. And for the most part it was. Screw the reviews, Love and Other Drugs is the best romantic comedy of the year. For one, Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway are great together and while I can't say this...

Modern Age (Live)

Currently pushing: The Lefsetz Letter. I've had a new email friend for the past two weeks. His name is Bob Lefsetz and he writes to me about the music and entertainment industry. Bob doesn't know I exist but that's quite alright. He's a busy guy and according to his Wikipedia, Bob used to be the majordomo of a music company. The only major domo I knew of before was an android one that works for a fictional X-Villain, so this is quite exciting.You...

Hot Crossed Buns

Listening to: The new Girl Talk album, All Day, is kind of fantastic and available for free as always. I think he put in a lot more pop friendly stuff this time around and that makes the album eminently danceable. Someone please throw a party and just throw this on. The album contains something like 375 samples, and I'd be curious how he avoids copyright issues. Some genius put together this samples breakdown of the whole album. It's kind of...

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)

I'll say it right up front, I thought this was the best Harry Potter movie. Maybe it wasn't the most enjoyable or the most complete, but this was the best film of the seven. The kids can all finally act, there were no ridiculous moments (well okay one or two), and everything was just done really well. Heck, the first thirty minutes was like a cool action thriller. I had no idea what to expect in this installment as I hadn't read the last book...

We Are Family

So this week saw the release of Path, a social network for fifty of your closest friends. Instead of trying to befriend everyone you know, Path is for personal connections, where exclusivity is king. They arrived at fifty by using Dunbar's Number, which is "a theoretical cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships." I learned about this awhile ago, pre-Friendster, and always wondered how having...

Yes, You Look Wonderful Tonight

Currently pushing: Glitterboo, a site that allows you to add sparkle and magical effects to your photos. Now you know what to gift for the holidays. There's not much that can't be made better by glitter. To paraphrase Chris Rock, "mo 'tussin!" Mo'glitter, as it were. See, I super glittered the EC cover and it's now demanding to be made into a wall sized poster. Wouldn't you agree?So I mentioned I have a book event coming up right? It's in exactly...

Whip My Hair

Listening to: LCD Soundsystem, "New York I love you, but you're bringing me down."It's true, I made it to the East Coast. Bust the windows out your car! After a night of hurried packing and attempts to purchase a winter coat, I made it to New York a few days ago. This may not sound like much of an accomplishment since all it takes to make it somewhere is hopping on a plane and then not getting struck by lightning, however I'm celebrating a mental...

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest (2009)

The strange thing about this trilogy is how the last movie contains little to no new information. Two and a half hours of a legal drama later and we get the ending we expect and the revelations we already know. Sure there's some talk about a rogue group within the police, one who has been pulling the strings all along, but this group's motivations and depiction are typical and a little boring. In fact, were I not so invested into this series already...

Number 5 is Alive

Currently pushing: I can't believe I haven't shared this before, but Julia Wertz is an autobiographical cartoonist and her work is amazing. I saw Fart Party 2 on the shelf awhile ago and thought by title alone it wouldn't be up my alley but as it turned out, Fart Party was exactly my type of party. Wertz's latest book, "Drinking at the Movies," chronicles her transition from San Francisco to New York, which makes it especially relevant to me right...